What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[Rick W]

Rags can be bad inside of stuff too...

Not if you use them as specified in the New World Rag Applications Manual, 23rd Edition, Chapter 3 “Rags in Automotive Machinery,” Subsection 3a1.f “Rags as Temporary Fuel Caps.”

 

[Curious Hound]

Not if you use them as specified in the New World Rag Applications Manual, 23rd Edition, Chapter 3 “Rags in Automotive Machinery,” Subsection 3a1.f “Rags as Temporary Fuel Caps.”

 

[Curious Hound]

Filled the gas tank, checked fluids, pumped some grease in all the zircs and parked it on the trailer for a possible trip to Timber Falls in Georgia later this week (wed. Or thurs.).

 

[97RangerXLT]

Rags can be bad inside of stuff too...

View attachment 56300

That looks like an early series 1 GM 3800 engine...

AJ

 

[Fire]

Took my ST out and tested the transfer case, that I posted about yesterday, on some steep nasty stuff. Worked great. No popping out of 4H or 4L. I'll give the TC a bit more time to renew my confidence, then try to do a thread on it.

-Oh, and I ran it through the sandy washes, which was where I had found the problem. Working. so. far....

 

[racsan]

replaced the starter, solenoid and cable to the starter today, spins over and starts really good now, better than when its 90 out with a warm engine (was 57 today) but now its not charging, tach still works (I have a auto meter tach meant for a diesel that uses a sensor fastened to the outside of the alternator) so I dont think its the alternator, will have to wait for another day, out of daylight and patience.

 

[Fire]

Drove mine to the store. With the window down. Spring has sprung, at least temporarily.

C'mon you're skimping on the details. Nothing exciting, no strange noises, or accidents, or that you picked up fired chicken for dinner? Nuthin? lol

 

[Fire]

replaced the starter, solenoid and cable to the starter today, spins over and starts really good now, better than when its 90 out with a warm engine (was 57 today) but now its not charging, tach still works (I have a auto meter tach meant for a diesel that uses a sensor fastened to the outside of the alternator) so I dont think its the alternator, will have to wait for another day, out of daylight and patience.

Hopefully just a bad wire, man.

 

[sheep herder]

C'mon you're skimping on the details. Nothing exciting, no strange noises, or accidents, or that you picked up fired chicken for dinner? Nuthin? lol

I picked up a hooker on the way home. Is that exciting enough?

 

[G8orFord]

New thermostat housing. Common affliction on the 4.0 SOHC. Second time I've changed it.

Did you get the aluminum one this time or are you planning on a third go at it?

 

[Rick W]

72, overcast, high humidity, perfect day for driveway paint & body. I finished the sanding and thought I finished the body work ‘til I wiped it down with thinner (actually my buddy’s diesel/gas mixture from his thank you fill up). Boy, I’m rusty (yuk yuk). So a little more Bondo and sanding, all teeny dings, the stuff that makes you crazy.

I’m doing black above and below, with a red wainscot. Black covers great, but I want the rusty metal primer under the red. That primer band was as far as I got. Actually the last two panels’ roll and tip was done by brail! I also primed anything I sanded bare or filled. Pictures tomorrow.

So I was trying to think of a name (I name all my toys). The more I sanded, I thought “Mosaic.” You Red Ranger fans are represented by the drivers door. @lil_Blue_Ford , the left front fender. The Bronco II guys, the right front tan/brown fender. And apparently the hood was black. The rest of it was a maroon/blood red like the interior, and the tailgate was/is a smoke gray metallic. Whoever put it together did a great job though, everything is 99% straight and I can’t find any damage underneath.

I also took the mirrors and the window visors and a couple other chrome things into the kitchen and cleaned them up with a Brillo pad. I’m sure you guys know that trick, you don’t scrub them, you just run the pad over them lightly. The chrome is harder than the steel in the pad, so if you don’t press hard, it takes all the crap off and they look like new without scratching. Including the aluminum arms on the mirrors.

And I stuck the leftover Bondo each time on the 97 where needed, not much.

Oh, and I also painted 3-4 bricks in my driveway by accident, little spill. Have to move them to the back of the carport before the Redhead sees them.

 

[scotts90ranger]

That was just to keep the road gunk on the inside of the bedside out, I didn't think about that but it was just loosely jammed in the hole... I know what you mean though, my '97 F350 has something in the front fuel tank floating around... a few weeks ago I got the fuel filter light (and loss of power) on driving around, switched to the rear tank then back to the front a few miles later and it was good to go. At least the '97 Ranger has a pickup sock on the fuel pump, I think I pulled that out last time and had a look at it...

 

[JohnnyO]

Did you get the aluminum one this time or are you planning on a third go at it?

I don't plan on keeping it much longer and I didn't want to wait to get an aluminum one mail order because I wanted to fix it today. The one I replaced was on for five years. Trying pay bills off so I can afford a new Ranger. As it is, I was going to replace an upper control arm yesterday and when I started to work on it I saw the strut was broken. It should be on warranty so I will call the shop that installed them tomorrow.

 

[Rick W]

my '97 F350 has something in the front fuel tank floating around..

Is it a diesel? The diesels have an upside down funnel looking fuel pick up that simply pushes onto the suction line. Mine is a 96 Powerstroke F250, probably the same thing. Whatever the plastic was that they made that pick up out of, over the years, simply disintegrates. I knew about this from researching why I couldn’t get the 19 gallons and 18 gallons of use out of the two tanks after 15 years of religious maintenance. Each one would “run dry” with about six or 7 gallons left in the tank. That’s when I learned of this problem. I don’t have to use my truck like you guys do, and I’ve had some serious health problems for a few years, so I just let it ride until my buddy topped off my tanks with gasoline. When I dropped them and cleaned them, those little screens were nothing more than a few bits and pieces of the housing on the bottom of the tank, with the brass screen and a couple other parts that were made out of the right material bouncing around in there. Obviously, once the screen is gone, one of those bits can get sucked into that suction tube as you’re bouncing around.

The good news is a sickly old man can drop the tanks and clean everything up and replace those screens in about eight or nine hours, and the screens are like $10 at rock auto. I’m sure a young strong specimen like you can do it in half the time!

BTW, when I dropped my tanks, the rear gas gauge hadn’t read right in several years. I’m sure when I was sick, it was from condensate corrosion. It’s pretty easy to pop them apart, and I used a tiny wire brush on a Dremel Moto tool to simply clean up the corrosion, and they have been working perfectly ever since. I broke a couple of the plastic tabs, but it was very easy to hold it together with a couple of those tiny zip ties without interfering with anything. Zip ties were a few pennies, the gas gauges were over $100 each. I’m cheap!

One thing I posted here that I may need to correct. On the front tank, I used a hose clamp to firmly put the pick up screen on the tube. It was the only one I had that was the right size, so on the rear tank, I drilled a hole through the neck of the screen and the tube, and I put a wire through it, so it could never drop off. Now I’m back to the problem of not being able to get to the last few gallons. I think the hole for the wire even with the wire in it is big enough that it starts sucking air before pulling the last few gallons. After the 87 Rick-storration is complete, it’s next on the list, now that I’m an expert at dropping them!

Even if your truck is not a diesel, I would still look at the same thing, it can’t be that much different.

Hope it helps!

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yep, it's diesel, I don't think the gassers have the fuel filter light , I didn't even know my filter light still worked...

I actually pulled the front tank a few months ago, the pickup was in a billion pieces, thought I got all of the big ones out but apparently missed something, probably the screen... being 6' long it's hard to see in the whole tank... The float was also sunk, so I emptied it out then soldered the hole closed, the gauge works now! The rear tank had a busted pickup deal but the bottom of the tank was also caved in, conveniently I obtained a spare pair of tanks so I just replaced the rear tank... I still don't get all I should out of them but it's better than it was.

You're right, dropping the front tank isn't too bad especially on a slightly lifted 4x4 without any mufflers... the hardest part is dealing with it being awkward and the fuel sloshing around. The rear tank on the other hand was kind of a pain, the fuel lines didn't want to release and there wasn't much space. I sure wish the bed came off as easy as on a Ranger... I think I had the front tank dropped and back in in about 2 hours, but it was down to 5-7 gallons of diesel left. It would be a whole different scenario with a full tank.